In an effort to help engineers tackle the growing complexitybehind the design of mechatronics products, Maplesofthas bolstered the visualization and animation capabilities of its flagship Mapletechnical computing software while adding new capabilities to itsrecently-released MapleSim multi-domain modeling and simulation application.

MapleSim2, which is now fully integrated with Maple at itscore, delivers 3-D animation and visualization capabilities that can easilytransform multibody models into realistic animations, improving engineers'insight into system behavior. Maple 13, the latest release of the company'ssymbolic computation engine, offers completely new 3-D plotting facilitiesdesigned to make 3-D plots more meaningful and easier to interpret.

Both releases are designed to address the increasinglycomplexity design engineers face when developing next-generation products. Whendesigning in the area of hybrid cars, for example, engineers are much morereliant on sophisticated mathematical equations, and the new releases areoptimized to make modeling mathematics more accessible, interactive and visual,according to Tom Lee Maplesoft's chief evangelist.

"Coming up with the equations can be upwards of 80 percent of themodeling time," Lee says. "We need to make more advanced mathematicaltechnology more accessible to everyone because people are rusty in this stuff.Both systems now allow for much more drag and drop and interactive, visualrepresentation of the physical systems. Underneath, we take care of all themath, which allows people to be engineers, not just more accuratemathematicians."

The new animation capabilities in MapleSim2, for instance,will automatically generate a 3-D animation of what a machine looks like andhow it will behave. "You can push a button, and the robot you're designingcomes on screen and moves around and you can see if an end is bashing againstsomething or if something is disconnected," Lee explains. "That way, anengineer doesn't have to root through the mathematics or schematics."

At the core of MapleSim2 is Maple 13, the upgraded versionof Maple's technical software. This upgrade builds on the lastrelease adding additional CAD connectivity capabilities, including supportfor Siemens PLM Software's NX.Maple 13 also offers new plotting facilities, including extensive annotationtools and fly-through animations along with new solvers and point-and-clickaccess to control systems analysis tools.

A single-user professional license of MapleSim2 ispriced at $2,995, while Maple 13 costs $1,895.

Maplesoft Unlocks Advanced Mathematics A